Thursday, February 7, 2013

The tradition of Fasting

One thing we have gotten away from in our Spiritual life is fasting.  Fasting was a way for our ancestors to show respect to God and to grow in their Spiritual relationship.  Fasting is a long tradition.  And yet today when we are in fellowship or in celebration we usually feast.  When we are taking a vacation or trying to relax, food is very much a part of what we do - and today with all the "other" distractions our lives are very full.

Yet, the Lord asks us to fast - and to spend that time growing in relationship. 

Should then we give up something for Lent?  Calvin stopped this practice.  The idea being that giving up or fasting from one item for the season of Lent wasn't really what God was asking.  What the Lord meant by fasting was coming into relationship with God without all the distractions of the world.  For Jesus, it was going out into the wilderness, for others it was refraining from eating for a day.  Fasting for those in the past, meant more then just forgoing eating but also gave them time - time that would have otherwise been spent making a meal. 

By fasting it wasn't just about taking away something out of their life but was about ADDING the additional time with God.

So, during Lent, instead of choosing to fast from something that is meaningless instead let us pledge to REPLACE...replace our time / energy / concentration with time with God.

Let us focus on God this season!  Finding a way to turn ourselves to the Holy in our lives.